


Under the Stars

by Whovian_princess (orphan_account)



Category: Half Upon a Time Series - James Riley
Genre: Denial of Feelings, F/M, Fluff, OTP Feels, Romance, Stargazing, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:33:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24626302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Whovian_princess
Summary: May can't sleep, so she decides to try watching the stars to relax her. Jack finds her and joins her. Fluff ensues.
Relationships: Jack/May Winterbourne
Comments: 9
Kudos: 12





	Under the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, my lovely potatoes!
> 
> The Half Upon A Time trilogy apparently has no fandom (it's a shame, really), so I decided to post this short fluffy story I wrote for Jack and May, who are truly the ultimate OTP. 
> 
> This takes place between Half Upon A Time and Twice Upon A Time, while the golden trio is still on their way to the fairy homelands. I haven't actually read Twice Upon A Time yet, so I'm not sure what the status of Jack and May's relationship is at the beginning of the book, but they're nearly to the pining stage in this fic. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the story!

It was the perfect night for stargazing.

May loved the stars. They were just about the only consistent thing in her life. No matter how many times she and her grandmother moved, the stars were still there, twinkling in the vast expanse of dark blue sky.

May was surprised to find the very same stars she used to gaze at through her bedroom window were still shining in the sky here, in this magical land of fairy tales. 

It was only the sight of those beautiful stars that could make her feel this calm and peaceful inside, like nothing in the world mattered. For several wonderful moments, she almost forgot she was off in a strange land, far from home, and that she had recently discovered that her entire life had been a lie.

Ever since she, Jack, and Philip escaped the Wicked Queen, so many questions always haunted her: who was she? Were her real parents still alive? Did she have siblings? If her family was still alive, where were they now?

Her grandmother had been the one person May felt like she could count on. She'd cared for her all her life. When May had one of her nightmares, she'd flee to her grandmother's bed. Then her grandmother would invite her into her warm embrace and stroke her head until May fell asleep in her arms. 

But now, after her grandmother's true identity had been revealed, May wasn't so sure she could trust anyone anymore if someone that loving and kind could turn out to have been the most vile, wicked woman in history. She'd nearly killed May's two best friends!

And yet, she couldn't stop loving her, no matter how hard she tried. She was the only family she'd ever known, and she was sure that deep down, she truly loved May, too. 

So why did she insist on being so evil?

Suddenly, May's thoughts were interrupted by Jack's voice saying, "Hey, May." May turned to see Jack standing close behind her, giving her a half smile. May couldn't help grinning back. Jack's smile was sort of contagious that way.

"Hey," May replied. She patted the ground next to her and said, "Have a seat."

"Okay." Jack sat down cross-legged beside her in the long grass. He glanced at May, who was still staring up at the starry sky, her blue eyes glimmering from the light of the full moon. His smile grew wider. She looked so cute like that, her eyes full of wonder and her lips curved into a soft smile. 

"How come you're still up?" he asked her after several moments of silence.

"I couldn't sleep, so I thought some stargazing would calm me down. What about you?"

"I had to… um, you know, do my business, but when I got back to the shelter I realized you weren't there, so I went looking for you."

May turned to him and smiled smugly. "Worried about me, huh?" Then she chuckled and teased him, saying, "You're such a softie."

Jack scowled at her. "No, I'm not. I'm tough as nails. I just think it would be pretty inconvenient if something happened to you. You're the whole reason we're even going on this journey, anyway. If we lost you, we would've come all this way for nothing."

May snorted. "Yeah, okay." She nudged his arm. "C'mon, Jack. Just admit it. You care about me."

"Why in the world would I care about you?" Jack asked, giving her a smirk.

Suddenly, May's face fell. "What?" she asked, her voice now free of any teasing tone. 

Jack furrowed his brows at her, puzzled by her sudden change in demeanor. "May? What's the matter?"

May glared at him and then turned away. "Nothing," she muttered. Then she stood up, turned to leave, and said, "I'm going back to sleep."

Jack watched in confusion as she started quickly back toward the shelter. What was that all about? One second, they had been watching the stars together and teasing each other as usual, and the next second, May was storming away from him like they'd just had an argument.

"May!" Jack called after her, scrambling to his feet and walking briskly toward her. 

May didn't stop or even turn to look at him.

"May!" Jack ran in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders to stop her. 

"Get your hands off me, Jack!" she hissed. "And keep it down! Our friend is still asleep!"

Jack removed his hands from her shoulders, but he didn't move out of her way. "What just happened, May?" he asked, his voice full of concern. "You were all happy, and then you just got mad and stomped away."

May huffed and placed her hands on her hips. "You know what you said," she replied angrily. Then she attempted to shove past him, but he just stepped back in front of her. 

"Get out of my way!" 

"No. Not until you tell me what I did wrong."

"How could you not know what you did wrong?"

"Well, as you've probably realized since we met, I'm kind of an idiot."

May stood in silence for a moment, still glaring at him. Then the corners of her mouth curved into a slight smile. "You _are_ an idiot sometimes." 

Jack cracked a half smile at her. "Yeah. So, would you like to inform my idiotic brain of what just happened between us?"

May sighed and looked down at the ground. She was quiet for a few moments, and Jack wasn't sure if she was actually going to tell him what he did. But then she said in a voice that was barely louder than a whisper, "You said you didn't care about me."

Jack stared at her in awe, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging slightly open. Guilt stabbed him in the chest, and he suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. Why in the world had he said that? That had to be one of the most stupid things that had ever come out of his mouth. And a _lot_ of stupid things came out of his mouth.

He could have easily just told her the truth instead of being sarcastic, even though sarcasm was a much easier option than honesty. And a more fun option, too. But some things weren't okay to joke about. 

This was definitely one of those things.

"May." Jack whispered, taking her hands into his. He expected her to pull them away, but she didn't. Instead, she just looked up at him with the most pitiful expression he'd ever seen. It was hard to even look her in the eyes when she stared at him like that, but he knew he needed to. What he was about to say was too important not to face her.

"I didn't mean what I said, I promise. I was just joking around. Now I know I shouldn't have joked about something like that."

"Yeah, you really shouldn't have," May interrupted him in an icy tone. 

"Let me finish," Jack told her gently. Then he took a deep breath and continued, "I _do_ care about you. A lot. Sometimes I even surprise myself with how much I care about you. You're the best friend I've ever had, and if anything happened to you, I don't know what I would do."

What _would_ he do? Honestly, he'd probably cry for a long time. But there was no way he was going to tell May that. He'd already embarrassed himself in front of her enough.

"So just remember that," he said finally, smiling softly at her.

May just gaped at him with wide eyes for several moments. Then she smiled at him more sweetly than he'd ever seen her smile before. 

"That was really sweet, Jack. Who knew you had that in you?"

Thank goodness it was too dark for May to see the blush that crept across Jack's face when she said that. He cleared his throat and said, "I was just telling the truth. You deserve to know how I feel about you."

May just couldn't restrain herself any longer. She flung her arms around him and squeezed him into a tight hug.

"Thank you," she whispered, burying her face into his shoulder.

While the hug caught him off guard, Jack certainly didn't mind it. He hugged her back and said, "You're welcome."

He expected her to pull away at any second, but May just lingered there in his arms, closing her eyes and enjoying the warmth of his embrace. She really loved this. 

Normally, a hug that lasted this long would have become awkward, but for them, it was the most comfortable thing in the world. It almost felt like they belonged there in each other's arms, underneath the twinkling stars.

It was a while before May realized that what she intended to be a friendly hug had slowly begun to feel like something more, and her heart raced at the thought. What if she was starting to think of Jack as _more_ than just a good friend? She knew that was a natural thing, especially for people her age, but why in the world would she have any sort of more-than-friendly feelings for _him_ ? Yeah, he was a good guy, someone kind and funny and sweet whom she trusted, but still, he was _Jack_. They were best friends! Not only that, but he got on her nerves a lot, to the point where he almost felt like an annoying brother. And who has a crush on their brother?

No one, that's who.

Yeah, she definitely didn't have feelings for Jack. That would just be weird, not to mention totally gross.

Finally, because she was suddenly feeling tired (and needed to get these ridiculous thoughts out of her head), May slowly pulled away. That might have been a mistake though, because when Jack looked at her with soft eyes and a warm smile on his face, she thought he looked absolutely adorable.

May suddenly felt unnaturally hot and found it a bit difficult to breathe. This could _not_ be happening.

"I, uh… we should probably go to sleep now." Why was it so hard to speak? 

Jack looked a little disappointed, but he nodded slowly and said, "Yeah, I guess so."

Neither of them moved. It was like each of them were waiting for the other to leave first. 

Finally, May started toward the shelter, but very slowly. Then Jack said, "Hey, May?"

May turned around to look at him. "Yeah?"

Jack looked at his feet and paused, as though he was thinking about how to word his question.

"Maybe we could watch the stars for a little longer? You know, instead of going to sleep?"

A happy grin spread across May's face. "Of course we can."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you liked it, please leave Kudos and drop a comment. I would really appreciate it!


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